Pastor Greg Laurie presents the Amazon Prime hit series The House of David, now on DVD. The House of David, which has been just a smash hit on the Amazon streaming platform, is now available in a box set format. And you can watch it when you want to. We're also including something called Beyond House of David, which is a four-part documentary series.
So order your copy right now, The House of David. Yours for a gift of any amount at harvest.org. Promises easily made. Often broken. But the good news is God makes promises.
And when God makes a promise, you can take it to the bank. Scripture is overflowing with God's promises. What need is on your mind right now? Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie brings encouragement. He promised to walk with us through the difficulties we face in life.
That's why these are called great and precious promises. This is the day when the Lord. Master found. This is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.
But can you hear all the angels singing? This is the day, the day will live. The dependability of a promise is tied to the integrity and the resources of the one who makes the promise. Did he mean it? Can he do it?
Did God mean it? Can he do it? The Bible says all the promises of God are yea and amen. And today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie shows us how God's promises extend to God's people, including his chosen people. We'll focus on his promises to the nation Israel and how those promises can be trusted.
Yeah. Heard this story about a couple that were getting married.
So the groom went to the pastor ahead of time and said, Pastor, I want to make you a deal. I'll pay you a hundred dollars. If you delete that part of my vows where I say that I'm going to take this woman for the rest of my life and be faithful to her and only to her, just delete that line, I'll pay you $100. The pastor agreed, or so the groom thought.
So when the ceremony began, the pastor locked his eyes on the groom and said, Do you promise to obey her every wish? Bring her breakfast in bed every morning and never so much as look at another woman as long as you live.
Well, the groom had to say yes. He said yes. Afterwards, he goes to the pastor and he said, I thought we made a deal. The pastor said, Your bride offered me more money.
So that's. Promises. Easily made. Often broken. But the good news is, God makes promises.
And when God makes a promise, you can take it to the bank. Promises are a lot like those gift cards. I don't know about you, but I have a little collection of gift cards that I've never cashed in. I read that there are around $5.8 billion in gift cards that were never claimed, and that's sort of like the promises of God.
Someone has said there are 3,000 promises in the Bible to the believer. I've never counted them all, I know there's a lot. But think of all the promises that God has given to us and have gone unclaimed, like those unused gift cards.
So we want to take hold of those promises. For example, God has promised that he will never leave us alone. Will never be alone in life. In Isaiah 41, the Lord says, Don't be afraid, I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you. I'll hold you up with my victorious right hand. And of course, Jesus said, I will never leave you or forsake you. And if you were to do a literal translation, it would go as follows: Jesus speaking, I will never, no, never, no, never leave you or forsake you. God has also promised to Walk with us through the difficulties we face in life.
In Isaiah 43:2, God says, When you go through deep waters, I'll be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up and the flames will not consume you. And of course, Psalm 23, where David writes, Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
So, no matter what you're going through in life, God is with you, God will walk with you through it. That's why these are called great and precious promises. Psalm 119 says, This is my comfort and my affliction. Your promise gives me life. Here's another promise of Jesus.
He promised he will come again. Jesus said in John 14, Let not your heart be troubled. If you believe in God, believe also in me. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again to receive you unto myself, that where I am, you may be also.
Did you know that of the 333 Old Testament prophecies, 224 still await fulfillment for his return? The New Testament mentions the second coming 300 times, about once in every 30 verses. 23 of its 27 books speak of his return. Jesus himself talked about his return at least 21 different times. And in every reference to his first coming, there are around eight references to his second coming.
And we're told over 50 times in the Bible to be ready. Do you think God is trying to tell us something? You know, there are some people. Let's just be gracious and say they're not very punctual. You know, they're always late, and it's always the traffic, or it was this, or it was that.
My alarm clock didn't go off, whatever. But somehow they're always late, and there's other people that, no matter what, are always there on time.
Now, when God makes a promise, He's going to be punctual. He'll arrive at the appointed time, and you can count on it. And there's no better illustration of God keeping His promises than with His own people, His chosen people, the Jews. One thing is very clear as you read Romans 9 to 11 is that God has a special relationship with the Jewish people. He established his first covenant with Israel through Abraham, who was the father of the Hebrews.
And he said in Genesis 12. To Abraham and his descendants, I'll make you a great nation. I'll bless you and make you famous, and you'll be a blessing to others. I'll bless those that bless you, and I'll curse those that curse you.
So much that we have today has come through the Jewish people. Our Bible has been handed down to us by the Jewish people. Our Messiah was Jewish and came to us through the Jewish people. And God has promised that he will keep his promises to them, and he'll also keep his promises to us. And the Bible says, God is not a man that he should lie, so you can trust the promises of God.
My next point is: because God kept his promises to Israel, you can know he'll keep his promises to us. See, I'm not Jewish. I'm a Gentile. as probably most of you are. But we have been grafted into the promises of God.
And going back to Romans 11:17, if some of the branches have been broken off, it says, And you, though being a wild olive shoot, have been grafted among the others, you now share in the nourishing sap from the olive tree. Root. And so I've been grafted in to the promises of God. And it's a wonderful thing. And you know, I feel that my role as a Gentile, but as a Christian, more importantly, is to support my Jewish friends.
You all know about what happened on October 7th. For many Jewish people, that's the most devastating date in their calendar, next only to perhaps the Holocaust, which took six million Jewish lives to the Insanity of Adolf Hitler and his so-called final solution. But on October 7th, Israel was attacked by Hamas. A terrorist organization funded by Iran. And some 1,200 innocent Israeli people, men, women, and children, died horrible deaths.
And I had the privilege of being asked to speak at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. a museum dedicated uh to fighting anti-Semitism. I was the only Christian that I know of that was present on the day, apart from my wife and the folks that were with me. And they allowed me to address this audience. And that was a great honor for me.
And I told them that I gave them my testimony. I said, I'm here because I was a confused 17-year-old boy going the wrong way in life, using drugs, not knowing what my life was about. And someone told me about Jesus Christ, who changed my life. And as I began to read this book, I discovered that you are his chosen people. And I'm here to say, and as a Christian, we love you and we support you.
So Afterwards, I had a few Jewish people say, You should join our side. I'm on your side. I've been grafted in. Yeah. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment.
Hey everyone, I want you to know about our app called Harvest Plus. Think of it as a harvest version of Netflix. We have all of our resources in one place. We have our movies like Steve McQueen, The Salvation of an American Icon, Johnny Cash of Redemption of an American Icon, A Rush of Hope, and much more. Then we have our television program, daily devotions, and much more.
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Well, you've joined us for an important message today called Israel, the Rapture, and the God Who Keeps His Word. Here's Pastor Gregg's next point. God uses us to bless the people who have blessed us. Romans 11:14, Paul says, I want you to understand. That we are here to make the people of Israel jealous of what you Gentiles have, that it might save.
Some of them. Make them jealous. That's an interesting statement, isn't it? Years ago, I was leading a tour to Israel, and it's my hope to lead a tour to Israel again. in the near future.
And maybe some of you can join me for that. But we were on one of our tours. I've been there many times. And I had a guide that I continued to use. His name was David, and I liked him.
He was a friend, but he was always debating me.
So we would be in the front of the bus and he would be arguing with me about my faith and so forth. And so we probably were debating for two hours. And we finally arrived at our destination. And as we got off the bus, the bus driver came to me. And he said, I was listening very carefully to what you were saying to David.
I made no progress with David, but apparently this guy was listening. Says, I really liked what you were saying. And then he said, This is an exact quote: I am jealous of your relationship with God. I'm a Jewish man. And I want you to come speak to my family.
For Sabbath dinner, and I agree. We went to his home. Incredible food. We're on the second course really full and we found out those are the appetizers. There's a lot more food to come.
We had a great meal. I went into a food coma, I think, but he gathered his whole family there, a very large family.
Some of his children serving in the IDF, the Israeli military, and I told him about Jesus, you see. And this was, I earned the right to do that. He saw something in me that caused him to be jealous. And I think that we should walk with God in such a way that non-believers will say, I want what they have. The greatest compliment a Christian can be paid.
is when a non-believer says, what makes you different? I notice you're kinder. I notice you're more patient. I notice that you're a loving person. Why are you this way?
You're going through this hardship, yet you're doing it with a smile on your face. How can you do that? And what a joy it is to then say, well, let me tell you all about Jesus. We're having a relationship with God that makes not just Jews jealous of Gentiles, but makes non-believers jealous of what we know as Christians. The fact is The thing that drew me to Christ first Was the lifestyle of the Christians before I heard their message?
I saw in them something I had not seen among my friends in the crowd I was hanging around with.
Okay, next point. Israel plays a key role in the last days. Look at Romans 11 again, verse 25. I want you to understand, Paul writes. The mystery, dear brothers and sisters, so that you do not feel proud about yourself.
Blindness in part has happened to Israel and will last only until the full number of the Gentiles come to Christ, and so all Israel will be saved. There is a spiritual blindness. In general, among many Jewish people when it comes to Jesus Christ.
However, We're beginning to see a dramatic change. More Jewish people are coming to know Jesus as the Messiah. God is not done with his chosen people, but there's a problem. There's a teaching in some churches that is called replacement theology. And replacement theology effectively says that the church has taken the place of Israel, that we as Christians are now spiritual Israel, and his unique relationship with them is over with.
Well, the problem with that is: if God's going to break his promises to Israel, why would he not break his promises to me? See, I believe God keeps his promises. And his covenants that he makes. And it's very clear. As you read through Romans 9, 10 and 11.
God has not done, in fact, he writes in Romans 11, 2, God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. And one of the signs of the times, according to the Bible, is that Israel would be regathered to her homeland. In Ezekiel 37, God told the prophet to go to a valley filled with bones, effectively, a graveyard. And God said, preach to the bones.
Now, I've spoken to some dead audiences, but this. This takes the cake. And so Ezekiel begins to preach to this audience, and now God tells them what it all means in Ezekiel 37, verse 11. And he said to me, Son of man, these bones represent the people of Israel. They're saying, We're becoming old, dry bones.
All hope is gone.
Now give them this message from the Lord. I will open your graves of exile and cause you to rise again, and I'll bring you back to the land of Israel. A sign of the end times, the return of the Jews to their homeland. And on May 14th, A nineteen forty eight. A modern day miracle happened against all odds.
An incredible opposition. Israel declared themselves a nation again, and it set the prophetic time clock ticking. And again, I want to emphasize this was on the heels of the Holocaust.
Now, some will say falsely, I might add, that the Jews are colonizers. Taking the land from the indigenous people. The fact is, the Jews are the indigenous people that God gave the land to in the first place. They have maintained continuous communities in Jerusalem for centuries. They purchased malaria, infested swamps, and built modern Israel.
Listen to this: Israel wasn't stolen. It was reclaimed, rebuilt, and revived by its indigenous people. God gave them the land. But the Bible not only predicts the regathering of the Jews to their homeland as a sign of the end times. But it also predicts her isolation.
from others and the increase of anti-Semitism. Which is up 900% around the world. We've seen it in some of our Ivy League universities. You see these massive protests, and this is what amazes me.
So much of this has accelerated after October 7th. You would have thought after that horrible massacre of innocent Jewish people that there would be an outrage and people would rise up in favor of their Jewish friends and nation Israel. And in some ways, the opposite has happened. Because the people are saying, Oh, we're more against Israel than ever, and this Jew hatred is on the rise. But this too is a fulfillment of Bible prophecy.
God says Israel in the last days would be scattered. That's happened. God said they would be regathered. That too has happened. God said Israel will be regaining Jerusalem and be isolated ultimately, and ultimately that she would be attacked.
Now that. has happened, but not on the scale it's going to happen. Because the Bible speaks of a large nation from the north of Israel that will attack her. And that nation is called Magog.
Now who is Magog? Many experts believe it's modern day Russia. I happen to agree with that for the most part. I don't think anyone can say with certainty, but I think it's very possible. But we know this: there's allies that march with Magog, and one of those allies is called Persia.
And Persia was the name of Iran until they changed it in 1935. In other words, God is saying there would be an alliance between Magog and Persia or. Maybe Russia and Iran. And so they attacked Israel. But when this happens, and it hasn't happened yet.
God is going to step in. And intervene on behalf of his people. Ezekiel 38 says, When this happens, when Gog attacks the land of Israel, my hot anger will be aroused, declares the sovereign Lord and His judgment. Comes upon Magog and her allies, and God pours his spirit out on Israel again. Um Pastor Greg Laurie.
And there's more to come as this study continues here on a new beginning. When it comes to the Lord's last days timetable, We don't know when Jesus will return, but we know it could be soon. Are you ready for that day when you meet the Lord? Pastor Gregg, maybe somebody listening would like to make a change today so they can be ready. What would you say to them?
I would say that God is just a prayer away. You know, it doesn't take years to become a Christian, it doesn't take months. Frankly, it doesn't even take hours. It can happen so quickly. It just starts with You saying to God, I know I'm a sinner, I know that you You love me?
I know that you sent Jesus to die on the cross for my sin and pay for those sins and then to rise again from the dead. And I want him to come into my life.
So here's my question to you: Have you done that yet? Because Jesus, who did die on that cross and rose again from the dead three days later, is alive and standing at the door of your life right now, and He's knocking. And He's saying, If you'll hear my voice, And open the door, I will come in. Would you like your sin forgiven? Would you like to know that when you die you will go to heaven?
Do you want Christ to come into your life right now? If so, why don't you just stop whatever it is you're doing and pray this prayer with me? You could pray it out loud. You can pray it in the quietness of your own heart. But pray this prayer to God.
Say, Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. But I know that you are the Saviour. who died on the cross for my sin. and rose again from the dead. I'm sorry for my sin, and I turn from it now.
and I choose to follow you From this moment forward, I ask all of this in Jesus' name. Amen. Listen. If you just prayed that prayer, the Bible promises that God has heard your prayer and has answered that prayer. The Bible says that we will confess our sin, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
So. God bless you. You've made the right decision. The decision to follow Jesus Christ. Yeah, that's right.
And listen, as you begin to live this new life, we want to send you something to help you get started off right. It's Pastor Gregg's New Believer's Bible. It's an easy-to-understand translation, plus hundreds and hundreds of study helps, especially for those who are new to the faith. It'll answer the questions you may have.
So get in touch for the New Believer's Bible. We'll send it free of charge. Just call 1-800-821-3300. one eight hundred eight two one three three zero zero or write a new beginning box 4000 Riverside, California, nine two five one four. or go online to harvest.org and click No God.
You know, Pastor Gregg, we hear from people all the time who tell us how these daily studies have impacted their lives.
So many have found the Lord and been encouraged through this teaching. That's right. And we hope our listeners might pray about making an investment so these studies can continue. Yeah, it's really true, Dave. You know, and even a little bit helps.
You know, people need to hear the gospel so badly. They need to hear the teaching of the word of God. It changes everything because it changes us. And I'm so passionate about it, and I'm called to do it, and I'm thankful for it. But I can't do it alone.
So I'm going to ask folks that are listening: if you think more people need to hear the gospel. If you believe more people need to hear the teaching of the Word of God, then Carefully consider investing in harvest ministries and maybe even become a harvest partner. Which means you're someone who stands with us every month in your faithful giving. And that opens up a lot of new opportunities for us.
So thanks for that. Yeah, that's right. And we really are thankful for your partnership. You can reach us any time day or night at 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300.
Or write a new beginning box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or just go online to harvest.org.
Well, next time, more insights about the promises of God and His plan for the last days. Join us here on A New Beginning with Pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie. This is a day, the day when life begins.
